Mechanism for actuating the gates of gravity discharge hoppers



April 24, 1928.

' w. J. BURNETT MECHANISM FOR ACTUATING THE GATES OF GRAVITY DISCHARGE HOPPERS INK x.-

ATTORNEYS.

Va. B

I WITNESSES April 24, 1928.

M W. J. BURNETT MECHANISM FOR ACTUATING THE GATES 0F GRAVITY DISCHARGE HOPPERS i'i a Dec. 9 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y INVENTOR: William lflumeii, 31% W ATTORNEYS.

N HN ENPN April 24, 1926. 1,667,468

W. J. BURNETT MECHANISM FOR ACTUATING THE GATES GRAVITY DISCHARGE HOPPERS Filed Dec. 9 1926' s Sheets-Shea. a

Q INVENTOR: WITNESSES a Q Q William, lfiurzwfi;

' I A TORNEYS With reference to the draw1ngs,F1g, j I I is a partial vertical sectional V ew of a typl- Patented Apr. 2 4, 1928.

UFACTURING COMPANY, or HILAD LPHIA,

' OF NEW JERSEY,

W 1 ,667,468 UNITE D smiss WILLIAM J. BURNETT, or eLENsIn PENNSYLVANIA, :AssIoNoR T0 BEAUMONT MAN? I PE SYLVANIA, A CORPORATION MECHANISM Eon jAcTUAI'INe THEVIGATESWOF GRAVITY D SCHARGE HOPPEES.v

Application filedlnecember 9, 1925:. ser al No, 153,533;

This invention relates to necha'nisha for actuating the gates of gravity discharge hoppers, and morepartlcularly to the longitudinally movable type ordinarily used,

for example, with the ash hoppers inpower houses. Such gates, on, account oftheir com} paratively large size and the weightof the ashes normally resting thereon, require the application'of considerable effort to open and close them, especiallywhen grouped n gangs for simultaneous operation. v

* The main object of the present ,iIlVIltlOIl is to enable actuation of such gatesby use of power instead of manually ashas generally beenthe case heretofore and in this connection it is my'aiin to prov de a very efiicient and reliableniechanism that will accomplish the desired result'swith extreme rapidity, to'the avoidance of any possibility of gate binding, and which, when, on'oe start ed, will come automatically to rest when the gates are nnovedto the fulllextentln elther direction.- I- I y In connection with systelns entalllng the use of gates grouped in multiple, it is a furtherobject of my invention to enable selective actuation of anyklesiied group"of. the gates to the exclusion ofothers' V Ith em lOyment ofbutfafsingle,priine moyen; l f Still; further objects and attendant advantages of myinventionwill be, readily apparcal power house; showing its flash" hoppers quipped with, gate operatingyniechanism embodying my invention. y Fig. II isa fragmentary sectional eleva-fl tion of the organization ,lnore or less di'a-.

grammatically represented and taken as indicated by the arrows. II. II in ,Fig. I.

Fig. III is across sectional vie wtthrough one of the ash hopperstakenas 'inolicated by the ow +-I 1 ig, I

" Fig. IV is a local detail sectional View,

takenias indicated by the arrows in Fig. II, showing one of the timing devlces controlling automatic stoppage of the rno-- tor, and. v 7 I Fig. V a plan sectional View taken as 1ndicated by the arrows VZ-EY in Figs, and II,- W i A 1 12, liliby, endless convey'ers boil er'slwl'iich are designated 10 and 11in 1 Figs; II ,and V,,and wherefron the ashes are received in underlying hoppers 12, .13-

respect ivelya The side walls of these hop,- pers [12, 13 are convergingly-slopedas shown inFig. llI toproniote gravity disc l iarge through bottom outlets 14, 1 1 set fapart, 1n both instances, by centralv diyiding ridges '15 extendingtransversely of said hoppers, Theoutlets Mare controlled bygates 16 that are equipped \Vith rollers s17 adapted to run along guide rails 18, the latter being suspended at onefe nd by brackets 19 depend ng fro n'the respectivehoppers 12, 13, and at the otherend, by the substructure sup porting theboilers,10,"11 ,As shown in Fig. I, the ashes are conducted whereof one :is conventionally represented at 20; and 1102- zle'is 21 are provided for spraying water into the ashes to quench them after customary to the hoppers practice, nozzles being supplied, through p1p1ng'-,22, fromasu tablesourcenot illus- A trated For the purpose ,ofdrainage, each '7 gatelfiis formed witha gutter'23 thatextends crosswiseof the back end thereof as well as contlnuously alonglopp'osite sides; and individual stat onary troughs '24 (Figs.

by q and V) receiyethe spill which is conducted ent from the detailed descriptlon whichfoloff through drain, conduits 25; When the gates 16, are opened, the ashes. are released to dropfroln the hoppers 12,13 intoa waiting car orother portable receptacle 26in and,' per se, ;f0 1. l$ 11 Part of the present invention which is'jcon ce'rnedonlywith the gate actuating mechan sm now; about to be S t f rt T1 5 meeh nl m lI C U S ne e ft-ric motor M whiohis shown ashousdifor protection against dust, in a pit 27 beneath the 'n ainj; floor 28 of the power house' and adap dto.-d i= e, th o gh a connect on 9 with, in erpq eld fl i e 1- c up'l ngsx 30; spee f A reduction I gearing v 31 housed within "a; casing 32 a11 'loca'ted in" the interval between the boilers 10, '11- as shown in Figs. II and V. The worm wheel 33 of the gearing 31, just tends to the exterior through appropriate bearings at opposite sides of the casing 32,

see Fig. V, and carries on its protruding ends, clutch members 36, 37 adapted to cooperate, respectively, with opposing clutch members 38, 39 on the contiguous ends of aligned shaft sections 40, 11 that are common to the hoppers 12, 13 of the two boilers 10, 11. On these shaft sections 40, 41 are secured, in proper spaced relation, spur pinions 42 that mesh With toothed racks 43 along opposite side edges of the several gates 16. The clutch members 38, 39are splined to, but slidable on the shaft sections 40, 41, and arranged for selective actuation by pivoted yoke arms 44, 45 that are respectively coupled, by means of links 46, 4 7, with hand levers 48, a9 located for convenience of access at remote ends of the boilers 10, 11, see Fig. II. Suitable means such as ratchet sections conventionally shown at 50, may be provided to lock the levers 48, 49 in shifted positions to hold the companion i clutch members 38, 36 or 39, 37 engaged; A

flexible chain connection 51 between the contiguous ends of the links 46, 417 insures against both clutches 36, 3S and 37, 39 being engaged at the same time yet permitting independent disengagement of either, aswill be readily apparent from Fig. II. The motor M is controlled for rotation in opposite directions by a standard type of drum reverse switch conventionally indicated at S in Fig. I, so that either of the two groups of gates 16 may be opened or closed by first clutching the corresponding shaft sections 40, 4.1 with the speed reduction gearing 31, through selective shifting of the hand levers 4:8, 49, and thereafter starting the motor M rotating in the proper direction by means of the control switch S.

In order to stop the motor movement ineither directionQI equip the shaft sections 4O, 11 with rotary timing came 51, which, as shown in Fig. IV,'have rises 52 adaptedto trip limitswitches53, 54 in accordance with the direction of rotationand. in a manner-which will be obvious in view of the legends associated with the illustration last referred 'to. The limit switchs 53, 54 may be of any approved commercial type, and the same'as well as the control switch S-interposed in the motor circuit in a manner well known'to artisans skilled in the installation of such devices. To protect the mechanism against injury likely to result from over-running of the motor M, I

preferably employ, as an additional adjunct in association with said motor, a magnetic brake device of standard construction dia- M aiitoinati- "cally when the gates 16 reach the limit of a multiplicity of gravity discharge"hoppers including an individual shaft for each hopper and equipped with gear pinions in mesh with toothed racks on the associated gates, speed-reduction mechanism interposed between the contiguous shaft ends, an electric motor adapted to ClllYQ'tllG speed-reduction i'iachanism in opposite directions to open and close the gates, and means whereby the respective shafts may be selectively coupled with said speed-reduction mechanism.

2. lVIechani-sin for actuating grouped gates of a pair of gravity discharge'hoppers arranged side by side, comprising aligned shaft sections one associated with each group of the gates and each carrying. gear pinio'ns i adapted to mesh with toothed racks'on'said gates, speedjreduction gearing in the inter' val between the shaftsections and co-ordinated to an electric' motors-adapted for reverse rotation'by interposed flexible coupimps and control means enabl ng selective clutching of the shaft sections with the speed reduction gearing,

' 3. Mechanism foractuatinggrouped gates of a pair of gravity discharge hoppers arranged side by side, comprising aligned shaft sections one associated with each group of the gates and each carrying gear pinions adapted tomesh with toothed racks ondsaid gates, speed-reductiongearing in the inter val between theshaft sectionslcoeordinated to an electric motor adapted for reverse rotation with interposition of flexible couplings, andcontrol means enabling selective clutching of the shaft sections with the speed-reduction gearing, said control means including separate hand levers witha fieXible connector therebetween to insure unclutcliing of one of said shafts incident to clutching of the 101111612 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, this 1th day of December,i1926;

Wi L iiM Jeeur vnrr. 

